21 A Lying Lips{Edited}

The young lady's voice, a glacial whisper, sent shivers down Leo's spine.

"So tell me… Why did you kill them?" she demanded, her words laced with ice.

Trapped.

That was the only thought cohering in his mind. Running was a fantasy, hiding pointless, and fighting...well, the odds were laughably stacked against him.

His eyes darted around, searching for an escape but finding only the cold, menacing glint of her icy blue eyes.

"...W-well," he stammered, his voice a pathetic croak.

A bead of sweat, fat and glistening, traced a slow path down his temple. "I just..." He let out a nervous chuckle, sounding more like a strangled gasp.

"Just what?" she pressed, each word a hammer blow.

He instinctively recoiled, his back hitting the rough stone wall with a sickening thud.

His mind raced, a desperate labyrinth of lies with no exit. He needed a story, an elaborate tapestry of deceit so convincing it could weave doubt into the fabric of reality itself.

Suddenly, an idea snagged in his spinning thoughts.

"I'll be honest with you," he declared, his voice wavering but laced with a forced semblance of strength.

Surprised by his new found boldness, she paused, her head tilted like a curious predator.

"Speak," she commanded, the glint in her eyes promising a fate worse than death.

He took a deep breath, stepping forward until he was a hair's breadth away.

"I killed them for a valid reason," he confessed, his voice surprisingly steady despite the tremor in his legs.

"And what reason is that?"

"Haa!" he sighed, as though he wanted to keep it a secret, "Alright, I'll tell you the truth… I have a rare affinity,"

"?" Wide eyed she stared at him in disbelief, even Mel was too shocked to chip in.

"But," he placed a hand on his chest, he face a canvas of deceit, "I made an oat to my master– not to reveal the true characteristics of my affinity to anyone. I have no idea why she made me swear that to her, possibly for my own safety, but I won't break it, not even for you." He said, with a awe-inspiring thousand-mile stare.

Intrigued, she narrowed her eyes.

"Interesting. And what is this...ability of yours?" she inquired, her fingers toying with the hilt of a deadly-looking ice dagger.

*Gulp*

Leo gulped, the cold metal sending a fresh wave of terror down his spine.

Yet, he held his ground, his voice laced with a newfound confidence that even surprised himself.

"Lets put it this way, just say… It grants me glimpses of intent or slightly more inclined to reading the human mind," he lied through his teeth so smoothly, that it would make a demon question it's ability to lie.

"I saw through this viscous attack." He shook his head, as he stared at the corpses of the knights, even those of the bandits where currently being killed.

"Haven't you wondered how the bandits were able to find you so swiftly? The way I see it, you must have previously taken measure to ensure THIS sort of thing wouldn't happened, but then…. It happened," he said, his gaze gaining more confidence.

"It was not just a random raid, but a meticulously planned strike. Those knights you see right there," he pointed at the dead knights, particularly the ones he attacked, "They were all traitors in your own ranks, working with the enemies."

"So, you's saying your ability allowed you to see their true intentions?" she asked, a flicker of uncertainty flickering in her eyes.

"Perhaps…. But… Not exactly," he said, shaking his head with feigned regret.

"It's deeper than that. But that's all I can reveal, I'm sorry about this." His face contorted in a mask of invented sorrow, and with a swiftness born of desperation, he tried to escape.

Tears streamed down his face, but they weren't tears of remorse.

They were tears for his "autopilot skill," its timer cruelly extended by a week.

He wanted to scream, to burn everyone to death, but he knew better.

The act was not done, and he couldn't afford to give her a reason to suspect him, after all, she could crush him with a flick of her wrist.

"Wait!" she called out, her voice sharp with surprise.

'Damn it! I'm already out of lies!' Leo thought, cursing his predicament. He turned slowly, trying to mask the rising panic threatening to consume him.

"Why don't you travel with me?" she offered, her voice surprisingly gentle.

"The academy, you mentioned? I'm headed there too. Why not join me for the journey?" A disarming smile played on her lips, but the underlying anger in her eyes remained.

"No," he spat, bluntly.

"What?" she frowned, the charm gone as quickly as it appeared.

"My ability… it has drawbacks,"

"And what are THESE drawbacks exactly?"

"It comes in various forms, but last time it was a constant call of nature, for the whole day"

"Don't worry about that," she dismissed.

"If need be, one of my knights can escort you."

This suggestion sent shivers down his spine.

Who needed an escort for such a thing?!

That would be creepy.

"Absolutely not!" he declared, his voice gaining strength with each fabricated excuse. "I prefer traveling alone,"

Her smile faltered, replaced by a glint of steel in her eyes.

"Why do you persist in refusing me?" she stepped forward, her voice laced with a dangerous undercurrent.

Leo felt a cold sweat slick his palms.

The noose around his neck tightened. He had gambled and lost, his carefully constructed facade crumbling around him. Desperation gnawed at him, a primal urge to fight overshadowed by the cold certainty of defeat.

"It's not what you think," he stammered, his voice barely a whisper. "I...appreciate the offer, but my connection to nature is...intimate. Requires complete solitude."

His words hung in the air, pathetic and unconvincing. He knew it was over. One wrong move, and the house of cards would collapse.

However, just before another lie could form on his lips, he did the unthinkable…

He bolted.

*Stump-stump-stump*

But just like he suspected, escape was a mere fantasy.

The remaining knights, once bystanders, now stood as a formidable wall. He had faced them, but that was through sneak attacks, this time, defeat felt inevitable.

Cornered, his breath ragged, Leo choked out, "Why won't you just let me go?" .

"As I said, I insist, Leo," she purred, her voice laced with honeyed menace.

He swallowed, the metallic tang of fear thick on his tongue.

The world shrunk, his breaths coming in short, desperate gasps.

"No!" he rasped, a final act of defiance before the inevitable.

Pain? Torture? He had faced worse. Threats? Like that could move me.

But then the dark glint that suddenly flashed in her eyes, the spikes of ice that all of a sudden materialized in thin air and surrounded him, THOSE, made he reconsidered.

"Haa,"

Resignation settled over him, heavy and suffocating, and here in was, in the carriage, his gaze drifting to the passing scenery, a silent question hanging in the air.

"Why does things never go my way?" The words rasped out, unanswered, echoing in the deafening silence of the moving carriage.